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The loins of Ellis Marsalis are certainly no slouch in the siring-of-jazz-prodigies department. The respected New Orleans pianist is father to a fantastically talented brood of jazzmen--trumpet virtuoso Wynton, drummer Jason, producer/trombonist Delf...

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There's a famous film clip of the Beatles, newly arrived in America, riding in a limousine and listening incredulously to a transistor radio. From that tiny speaker, a strange deejay the lads had never heard of named Murray the K was anointing himsel...

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The desert does not care if you live or die. It is a brutal, unforgiving place where Mother Nature plays hardened Bitch Goddess to the hilt and the only law is survival. And when the sun is busy redefining "broil"--which is all the time--that's a law...

If the word "mambo" conjures up anything at all in an age when the most popular forms of dance are "line" and "slam," it is probably some kind of slightly silly, Ricky Ricardoesque vision. There might be a couple of ladies wearing hats made o...

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Tom Petty occupies a strange place in our collective psyche. Because of his notable collaborations with respected rock elders like Bob Dylan, George Harrison and the late Del Shannon, we tend to view him as a rookie instead of the 20-year vet...

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Glenn Frey
Solo Collection
(MCA)
How much water can one ex-Eagle tread? Prior to all of last year's Eagles reunion by-products, Frey released a Greatest Hits--Live album. Now here comes its studio equivalent, minus all the Eagles stuff on wh...

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Democracy's a funny thing. It can define civilizations. It can liberate minds and unleash souls. It can prompt unending, impenetrable gibberish from bespectacled poli-sci students.
And it can kill a rock band.
Music groups adhering to eg...

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Geraldo Rivera: GG, why do you feel the need to defecate onstage?
GG Allin: My body is the rock 'n' roll temple and my flesh, blood and bodily fluids are a communion to the people whether they like it or not. I'm not out to please anybody; my r...

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Everybody loves chili with beans--sure thing! And everybody loves legendary country supergroup Alabama--I know you're all with me on that! But what if you wanna combine your love of both in some kind of symbiotic power coupling? Sure, you could heat ...

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Though it was more than 20 years ago, I'll never forget my first glimpse of Playboy Mansion West. The lush, green lawns, the exotic birds and animals wandering around, the waterfall cascading into the swimming pool, the stately House That Hef Built.
...

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If you believe the myths, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was either a drunk mispronouncing "in the garden of Eden" or else it was very bad Latin for "play as long as you like, I've got to take a monstrous dump." This lumbering, 17-minute-and-five-second Iron B...

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At last--I've found it! After years of vein-popping concentration searching for unique descriptions, after developing blisters on every finger from thumbing through thesauruses looking for new adjectives, I've discovered the ultimate way to determine...

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Hell-Bent: Insurgent Country Volume 2
(Bloodshot)
Insurgent, indeed! How dare they, these young bands of scofflaws, going and recording songs that are actually representative of the heart and soul of authentic American country music. There...

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Life is all about choices, and Ralph Stanley's first big choice was between a pig and a banjo.
At the tender age of 11, Ralph's mother gave him a $5 bill--no small sum in 1938, especially in the hills of Virginia near the Tennessee border wher...

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Insincerity blurs many a postmortem tribute album. What were the performers' true relationships to the featured legend? Were they just hired guns used for marquee value? Why should it be considered a "tribute" to rerecord a lesser version of a hit? C...

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Mike Watt is an easygoing sort. He's a big, friendly guy with a gruff voice that makes him sound even bigger and friendlier on the phone. At the moment, Watt's speaking from Los Angeles. The rambling conversation concerns, among other things, Watt's ...

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To his parents, he is O'Shea Jackson. To certain members of the population, he is the "Nigga America Loves to Hate." But to thousands of rap fans, he is simply known as Ice Cube. Once a greasy, Jheri-curl-wearing homeboy straight outta Compton and a ...

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Trisha Yearwood
Thinkin' About You
(MCA)
And you won't feel like a dweeb thinkin' about her, either. Trisha Yearwood is a rare find--she's inoffensive to both new "young country" fans and old holdout traditionalists. Trish and her producer h...

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Feast your eyes on these humble liner notes: "THIS is an event. Not merely the release of more 'product,' but a major milestone in the annals of Rock." What could it be? A recording of Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley singing together? A Sgt. Pepper out...

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March 22, 1995
New songs, old songs and a studied sense of slack highlighted a performance by Cake at the Rockin' Horse last week.
Singer John McCrea, a brimmed fishing hat on his head and an undersize acoustic guitar between his arms, l...